Nov 30 Expo: Migrant business is very important to us - Eric Chuah, Head of Migrant Banking at ANZ, NZ

[caption for the above picture: (from left to right) Andrew Webster, ANZ General Manager Auckland, Kanwaljit Bakshi, Member of Parliament, Melissa Lee, Member of Parliament, Harish Lodhia, Honorary Consul, Consulate of Fiji in Auckland, Jing Chen, Consul of Economic and Commercial Affairs, Chinese Consulate General in Auckland, and Eric Chuah, ANZ Head of Migrant Banking]

- he spoke to The Migrant Times after successfully organising the Bank's fourth Migrant Expo, held at the Vodafone Events Centre, Manukau, Auckland on November 5

Around 5,000 visitors attended the event, which started as a pilot three years ago. Last year, the event moved to Sky City and was organised as a family fun day with over 120 stalls.

“This time, we took a more targeted approach and had about 50 stalls. Exhibitors included government agencies, community associations and commercial sectors, which lined up to showcase their services under one roof, making it easy for those new to New Zealand to find information and support. This year’s Expo also featured seven seminars covering four major categories of education, employment, living in New Zealand and community support from agencies including the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, the Ministry of Education Auckland Chamber of Commerce, Inland Revenue and the Citizens Advise Bureau,” informed Chuah.

On the need for businesses to understand the changing face of New Zealand, the banker who himself is from Malaysia noted, “Migrant business is very important to us. This so as year-on-year migrant numbers to New Zealand have steadily increased. In the last year alone the number of migrants arriving hit an all-time high of 125,600. And businesses need to appreciate the changing face of the country. We certainly do. That's why we have over 600 migrant bankers spread across New Zealand at our multilingual Migrant Banking Centres. We speak a number of different languages including Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Tagalog and Hindi. Moreover, many of our bankers are migrants themselves, which makes it easier for them to understand the needs of migrants in New Zealand, which many a times are very different from mainstream needs.”